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Private equity firm Warburg Pincus is close to a sale of portfolio company Euromedic International that could fetch up to â¬900m ($1.3bn), as buyouts of healthcare companies prove resistant to a wider downturn.

News of the potential sale comes after a refinancing of Euromedic International over the New Year. ING’s London-based central and eastern European leveraged finance and sponsor coverage team led the process, while UniCredit also worked on the €365m refinancing.

The new debt issued at the time included a €60m seven-year “A” loan, an €85m “B” loan over eight years and an €85m nine-year “C” loan. The banks also agreed a €75m acquisition finance package over seven years, a €20m revolving credit facility and a €40m mezzanine tranche.

However, it is unclear how much of Warburg Pincus' equity investment in the company was repaid during the refinancing and the firm declined to comment on the process.

Euromedic, which manufactures diagnostic equipment, could be broken up as part of the exit process or sold in its entirety, according to sources. A spokeswoman for Warburg declined to comment on the proposed sale, which would be the biggest exit by a private equity firm this year.

Rothschild was mandated last month to conduct a strategic review of the business, and a sale is understood to be the most likely option, according to sources close to the situation.

Euromedic is the largest private provider of diagnostic imaging and dialysis services in central and eastern Europe, according to Warburg Pincus’ website, with a presence in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Russia, the Baltics, Greece, Turkey and the Czech Republic. Euromedic won backing from venture capital groups Dresdner Kleinwort Capital and GE Equity in 1999 and 2000, before Warburg Pincus acquired the company in July 2005.

Healthcare businesses, particularly those that produce diagnostic items, are relatively “decoupled” from the economy as they are not dependent on consumer spending, according to a partner at a mid-market buyout firm. Warburg Pincus expects the sector to prove popular this year.

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Recent exits include the sale of Classic Hospitals, a cluster of private acute care hospitals. Verna Group, a manufacturer and distributor of infection control products, was sold earlier this week by buyout firm LGV Capital. UK-listed private equity group 3i also acquired Norwegian drug company Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients from its NYSE-listed parent, Alpharma, this week for $400m.